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Mimbres couple face increased charges in child beating death

By Christine Steele / csteele@scsun-news.com

Posted:
02/22/2013 06:40:51 PM MST

SILVER CITY — Jaclynn Legarda, 27, and Nicholas Grijalva, 30, the couple charged with child abuse in connection with the beating death of Legarda's 3-year-old daughter at Grijalva's hands, have both been charged with an additional count of child abuse resulting in death, a first-degree felony.

Both have been in custody since their arrests — Feb. 12 for Grijalva and Feb. 14 for Legarda — following the Feb. 7 incident at the couple's home in the 3200 block of Highway 35 in the Mimbres during which 3-year-old Alizandra Jasso was allegedly beaten unconscious by Grijalva for going to the bathroom in her pants. The child died Feb. 9, and trauma doctors who treated the girl in El Paso told the Grant County Sheriff's Department that the child had various stages of bruising on her body, court documents show, and that her injuries were not consistent with a fall, as the couple had initially told deputies.

Grijalva was initially charged with nine felony counts in connection with the beating death of Alizandra and the abuse of Legarda's two young boys, ages 6 and 8. Those charges include four counts of child abuse in connection with two separate incidents in which he allegedly beat Legarda's boys with his fists, his boot, a teapot and a board; two counts of intimidation of a witness for allegedly telling the boys to lie about what happened to Alizandra; one count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor; and one count of tampering with evidence, for allegedly cleaning up the bedroom in an attempt to cover up what happened to Alizandra.

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He now faces the additional charges of interfering with communications, aggravated battery of a household member, and the child abuse resulting in great bodily harm charge has been increased to child abuse resulting in death.

Legarda was initially charged with seven felony counts: Three third-degree felony counts of child abuse (no death or great bodily harm), in connection with the death of her little girl and the alleged abuse of her two sons at Grijalva's hands; one count of tampering with evidence (a third-degree felony in this instance) for allegedly removing Alizandra's clothes following the incident and cleaning the bedroom with intent to prevent the apprehension, prosecution of conviction of Grijalva; two fourth-degree felony counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor for allegedly causing or encouraging her sons to lie about what caused Alizandra's injuries; and one misdemeanor count of false reporting, for allegedly knowingly providing deputies with a different pair of shoes than the ones Alizandra was wearing on the day of the incident. Now, one of the child abuse charges has been increased to the first-degree felony charge of child abuse resulting in death. That charge carries a possible 18-year sentence.

Legarda had her bond reduced from $75,000 cash-only to $75,000 bondable with 10 percent down at her arraignment in Silver City Magistrate Court on Feb. 15, but had a furlough denied. Her bond will now likely be increased because of the first-degree felony charge.

Both Grijalva and Legarda will likely be assigned public defenders from the Capital Crimes Unit in Albuquerque, but a paralegal who answered the phone there on Friday afternoon could not say if that had been done yet and a message left for the lead public defender was not returned on Friday afternoon. Both were determined to be indigent at their arraignments, reporting no income, except $200 a month in food stamps for Grijalva and $668 monthly for Legarda.

The couple had initially been held at the Grant County Detention Center but both had to be moved to Hidalgo County for their own protection.

Grijalva previously served more than four years in Colorado prisons for kidnapping and menacing charges stemming from an incident in Sept. 2003, according to the Colorado Courts records database. Multiple other charges, including child abuse, and assault with a deadly weapon, were dismissed in that case. He was initially given four years of probation in that case but had his probation revoked after receiving several more charges in February 2004 including assault, harassment, domestic violence, and child abuse. He was sentenced to 30 months on the menacing charge and three years on the kidnapping charge and spent time in the Colorado Department of Corrections from March 2006 until October 2008

Legarda is scheduled for a preliminary hearing in Silver City Magistrate Court on Feb. 28.

Grijalva is scheduled to have his preliminary hearing March 7, also in Silver City Magistrate Court.

Those dates could change if attorneys agree to waive the 10-day time limits on preliminary hearings.

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